Any plumbers in the house?

[rmk4ever]

Our water heater has only been giving us approx 20 gallons of hot water,(40 gal tank) Electric by the way. So I open the covers where the elements are & discover that the bottom element's wire's (only one) BURNT to a crisp.
I dont understand how one switches to the other when in need? Kind of a scary find, about a week ago we smelled something like a dust bunny went thru the furnace or something, they are both in the same corner of the basement. Anybody got a clue? Thanks in advance.

 

[snocrazy]

sounds like the heating element shorted out - went bad. I would think the breaker would have blown before the wire melted.

Im not a professional plumber by any means. Good luck

 

[peter]

There is a diptube on the cold water side inside the water heater that could be broke. If that is broke halfway it would bring cold water to the middle of the tank and not the bottom of the tank.
The burnt wire is probley your element drawing high amps and could be on its way out. You probley have one element just takes 2 wires to power it.

 

[michaeladams]

i have haed water and it seems like every year i'm replacing one. i acually need to install a water softener but with the price of salt a couple heating elements are pretty cheap.

 

[michaeladams]

hard water, i have hard water.

 

[mccaleb]

Is this a vacation house? Do you drain the tank? If so this is the cause of no water surrounding the element when the power to the water heater was turned back on, causing the element to overheat and melt itself. You need to make sure the tank fill up before energizing the element. By buddy did this to me when he got to the cabin first and didn't wait for it to fill. Easy fix.. Always wait.

 

[booondocker]

Our water heater has only been giving us approx 20 gallons of hot water,(40 gal tank) Electric by the way. So I open the covers where the elements are & discover that the bottom element's wire's (only one) BURNT to a crisp.
I dont understand how one switches to the other when in need? Kind of a scary find, about a week ago we smelled something like a dust bunny went thru the furnace or something, they are both in the same corner of the basement. Anybody got a clue? Thanks in advance.

There's a thermostat on there that sends juice to one or both elements of the heater depending upon demand. If you are running out of hot water, in all likelyhood, it is because one element burned out and the load is being handled by the single element which often is the upper element. The primary in the lower heats the water warm, and the top one heats it more where it leaves the tank.

If the wire over heated, it was either because the connection was not tight, or the thermostat failed and continued to send current to that element, non stop. They are not designed to be run 24/7...so she burnt out.

If the heater is older, I would replace it with a newer model because not only is the insulation for the new units better, you will get all new from top to bottom...removing issues of bad thermostate, elements and broken fill tubes.

Only other thought I have on that is that if the wire is incorrectly sized, that could cause it to get hot too. 220 vt should be fairly heavy wire coming from the fuse box to the unit.

Make sure the connections are real tight.

 

[rmk4ever]

Thanks everyone, boondocker is right on the money. After pullin out the tester, I figured out that the thermo was bad & kept sending juice to the lower element. Unit is approx 10 yrs old & has been flushed annually, but the element that was cooked look like it had been in there for 50 yrs...

 

[mtb1115]

7 tom 10 years is all a water heater is made to last with hard water, and yes the lower element is main one that does all of the work. Part of the problem is when the the minerals in the water "cake-up" on the elements, break off and settle in the bottom of the tank and then covers the lower element causing it to over heat and burn out thus only giving you 1/2 a tank of hot water. The best way to prevent lower element failure is to replace it with a "sand hog" heating element. It is twice as long as a regular element, doubled over its self and bent in an "s" like form. They cost more but will last the life of the heater. Ace hardware can get them (others can too, may have to order) and should cost $15 to $30 bucks. I will put them in a new heater to eliminate a service call and maintenance but you can install them in a older unit but you may have to dig some of the sediment out of the bottom to create a pocket for it to fit. It is a little work but you only have to do this once, these things are heavy-duty, you can run them dry with out damage. Good luck.

 

[rmk4ever]

MTB1115 You sound in the "know" Why is it that the top element comes on fisrt, heat rises right, I would think that the bottom would come on first & the top would maintain the temp? Excuse me for I smooth rocks for a living & dont understand anything electrical, Took me yrs to figure out simple trailer wiring.

 

[mtb1115]

The lower element is the work horse of the 2, water enter the tank from the top and travels thru the dip tub to the bottom (a plastic tube inside the water connection, wich can break but is not common) where the lower element heats the water, when you call for hot water it is taken from the top of the tank where the upper element maintains the temperature, since it works less and dose not get submerged in lime it tends to last. Check out the sand hog element I feel it is worth the extra money. Good luck.